


he lives by make-believe

by crooked



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-29
Updated: 2010-08-29
Packaged: 2017-10-11 07:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/110130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crooked/pseuds/crooked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anyone else on the beach sees a young man walking his big black, shaggy dog...</p>
            </blockquote>





	he lives by make-believe

**Author's Note:**

> [original post](http://crooked.livejournal.com/242859.html) @ livejournal.

Anyone else on the beach sees a young man walking his big black, shaggy dog, but Remus smiles to himself as he walks beside Padfoot — trousers rolled at the ankles, shoes in hand — because he knows better.

He knows that the dog at his side is really a nineteen-year-old wizard who sometimes can't resist the freedom that being Padfoot gives him. When Sirius is Padfoot, he can run headlong into the crashing surf, tongue dangling out the side of his mouth, tail wagging furiously, and not care who sees. He can chase after the gulls, running them into the grassy dunes and barking wildly until they flutter their wings and fly away, and no-one thinks anything of it. Remus just watches him with an affectionate grin. He knows Sirius will never stop being the little boy who longed for freedom beyond the oppressive walls of Grimmauld Place, and he himself doesn't ever want him to stop.

His reward for indulging Sirius comes later, when the sun is settling against the horizon of the sea and the air has a chill to it as Remus and Padfoot sit close together in the white sand. Padfoot's fur is soft and warm as Remus scratches behind his ears, his hind leg shaking just so. It's a moment of rare quiet that they hardly get anymore, save for when they can't take anymore of London and the Order and the war and rent and grown-up things they'd not really been prepared for. He wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, even if his companion is snuffling and slobbering against his thigh

Remus is watching the waves roll against the shore, so he doesn't quite notice when the dog is replaced by a boy until his fingers are pulling through hair rather than fur. Sirius grins as he sits up and sidles closer to Remus, their shoulders touching and their heads just centimetres apart. _Thanks for taking me for walkies_, Sirius laughs, turning his head to press his nose to the crook of Remus' neck. Soon his lips are moving in soft kisses along Remus' jaw, and all Remus can do is tilt his head to one side and sigh.

They've probably only a few more moments before a patronus is sent with a message to shatter their peace, but Remus has become quite adept at pretending that all they have to worry about is the here and now. So he leans back into the soft sand, closes his eyes, and all that exists is the stretch of beach at Studland, the roar of the waves, and Sirius.


End file.
